This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2002-2800, filed Jan. 17, 2002, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, and more particularly, to a tape guide device for a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus which guides a tape released from a cassette tape recorder and loaded to contact a head drum.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, such as a video cassette tape recorder and a camcorder, records information on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape, and reproduces the recorded information.
The magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus includes a main deck on which a head drum is rotatably installed, a main sliding member positioned on the main deck to be slid in a right/left direction, a sub deck disposed at the main deck to be slid in an upper/lower direction, a transferring unit to transfer a cassette tape mounted on the sub deck to a predetermined position of the main deck and a reel table on which two tape reels of the cassette tape are positioned, and which is driven to wind one of the tape reels. The head drum rotatably installed on the main deck is used to record/reproduce information on the tape. The magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus also includes a tape loading unit to load the tape into the head drum, and a tape guide device.
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating a conventional tape guide device for a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus. The conventional tape guide device includes an entrance side pole base unit 20 and an exit side pole base unit 30 to guide a tape T at both sides of a head drum 10 so that the tape T surrounds the head drum 10. The conventional tape guide also includes a plurality of guide posts 41, 42, 43 and 44. The guide posts 42 and 43 are fixed on a main deck 1, and the other guide posts 41 and 44 are moved on the main deck 1 to guide the tape T and to adjust tension.
Each of the pole base units 20 and 30 is transferred in an upper/lower direction A of the main deck 1 by a transferring unit to guide the tape T. Since the head drum 10 is inclined on the main deck 1 at a predetermined angle, the pole base units 20 and 30 are structured to guide the tape T to be inclined on the head drum 10 at a predetermined angle.
FIG. 2 is a schematic partial perspective view of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, the entrance side pole base unit 20 includes a pole base 21, a rotation support roller 23, and a fixed post 25. The rotation support roller 23 is installed on the pole base 21 to be moved in an upper/lower direction. Accordingly, a movement position of the tape T is controlled by adjusting a position of the rotation support roller 23 in the upper/lower direction. Since the head drum 10 is inclined, the fixed post 25 is inclined to the rotation support roller 23 at a predetermined angle between the rotation support roller 23 and the head drum 10, thereby maintaining the tape T parallel.
However, the conventional tape guide device needs the rotation support roller 23 and the fixed post 25 to maintain the tape parallel and adjust the upper/lower position of the tape, thereby increasing component parts for the tape guide and cost of the tape guide. Moreover, the components may easily contact and damage the tape.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tape guide device for a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus which decreases a number of components and simplifies a whole structure of the tape guide.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a tape guide device for a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, including a pole base assembly to guide a tape supplied from a supply reel and passed through a predetermined path to be moved horizontally to a read surface of a head drum. The pole base assembly includes a pole base installed adjacently to or separately from one side of the head drum during a loading/unloading operation of the tape. The pole base assembly also includes a pole unit including a spiral flange inclined to the pole base in a horizontal direction to the read surface of the head drum, to guide the tape entering the head drum to be inclined at a predetermined angle and positioned in the horizontal direction to the read surface.
According to an aspect of the invention, the pole unit includes a guide pole installed on the pole base, and a flange member having the spiral flange and being installed at an upper end of the guide pole.
According to an aspect of the invention, the guide pole includes a fixed post being fixed to the pole base, and having a first fastening unit of a predetermined length at its upper end. The guide pole also includes a coil spring inserted into a lower end of the fixed post, a flange type ring movably supported by the fixed post to be positioned on the coil spring, and a cylindrical guide pipe inserted into the fixed post to have a smaller outer diameter than the ring, to support the flange member at its upper end. The guide pole includes a movable post having a second fastening unit fastened to the first fastening unit of the fixed post through the upper opened end of the guide pipe, to prevent separation of the guide pipe and the flange unit. A height of the ring, the guide pipe, the flange member and the movable post are controlled in an upper/lower direction according to a fastening state of the movable post and the fixed post.
According to another aspect of the invention, of the first and second fastening units is a bolt and the other one is a nut, thus tightened by mutual rotation.
According to an aspect of the invention, a third fastening unit having a reduced outer diameter is disposed at the upper end of the guide pipe so that the flange member is inserted thereinto.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the tape guide device further includes a physical position fixing unit to constantly maintain a right/left position of the flange member when the flange member is moved in the upper/lower direction with the guide pipe.
According to an aspect of the invention, the physical position fixing unit includes a fixed pin protruding from the pole base at a predetermined height in a line with the guide pole, and a guide slit unit disposed at a lower end of the flange member to guide an upper/lower movement of the flange member and to restrict a right/left movement thereof by using the fixed pin.